ACT IV. SCENE I So the Ff. Many editors 2. The Ff. have a comma after thrice. 7. The Ff. have a colon after one. 38. Hecate and the other three witches. strike out the words and . . . witches. change and to to. But it seems probable that Middleton, who introduced the character of Hecate, brought in here three other witches for the sake of spectacular effect in the dance (line 132). The change proposed by the Cambridge editors is objectionable, since it makes Hecate a witch, and obscures the alteration in the play made by Middleton. 59. germens. Theobald's correction for germaine of the Ff. The word seems to have been coined by Shakespeare, and in the parallel passage, Lear iii. 2. 8,—the only other place in which he uses it it appears in the plural. We are justified, I think, in believing that here, as elsewhere, the printer has dropped the final s. 59. all together. Pope's correction for the altogether of the Ff. 83. F. has a comma after assurance. 97. Rebellious head. Theobald's correction for the Rebellious dead of the Ff. Most modern editors adopt another conjecture of Theobald's, Rebellion's head. But Theobald himself preferred the reading in the text. It is a slighter alteration of the original, and makes as good, if not better, sense. 98. Our high-placed Macbeth. I agree with Manly that this passage, from Sweet bodements to custom, is probably the insertion of the reviser. It is singularly weak and ineffective. 105. The Ff. have a period after know. The Cambridge editors alter to a colon. A dash seems better as the speech is interrupted. III. The stage direction of the Ff. reads: A shew. . . and Banquo last with a glass in his hand. Line 119 shows that this is wrong. 116 and 118. I follow F. in printing question marks instead of exclamation marks, as in most modern texts, after fourth, yet, and seventh, in these lines. ACT IV. SCENE II 22. Each way and move. Many suggestions have been made looking to a possible emendation of this passage. Dr. Liddell, however, has shown that move in Elizabethan English, means “to toss," or reflexively "to toss one's self." This interpretation seems to me to remove all obscurity from the passage. 38-41, 44-64. These passages are in prose. The way in which this dialogue between Lady Macduff and her son begins in verse, lines 30-37, changes to prose, lines 38-41, goes back to verse, lines 42-43, and then closes in prose, is, to say the least, peculiar. Compare the Mamillius scenes in The Winter's Tale, in which Shakespeare has managed to convey in blank verse the prattle of a child. Dr. Liddell is inclined to reject these prose passages. 73. Whither. Ff. 1-2 read whether, a common Elizabethan spelling of "whither." Thus in iv. 3. 133 F. has whether, when the sense demands "whither." In this passage, however, the old text might possibly be defended. If Lady Macduff were to fly, she would hardly ask whither, since she would naturally seek to join her husband in England. But, conscious of innocence and yet alarmed for her safety, she might well ask, “Whether shall I fly?" i.e. “shall I fly or not?" This use of whether to introduce a direct question, with an unexpressed alternative, cannot, so far as I am aware, be paralleled in Shakespeare, but we have instances of it in Latimer and Spenser. See Century Dictionary, sub whether. 83. shag-hair'd. Steevens correction for the shagge-ear'd of the Ff. Some modern editors, among them the Cambridge editors, retain the old reading. But shag-eared is a word which, so far as I am aware, occurs nowhere else in the language and is somewhat difficult of explanation. Shag-haired, on the contrary, was a common term of abuse, and is particularly applicable to the wild High land cateran (cf. 2 King Henry VI., iii. 1. 367), who appears here as the murderer. It is easy to see how the corruption might have occurred from the old spelling of heare for hair. ACT IV. SCENE III 4. down-fall'n. Malone's correction for the downfall of Ff. The participial form fall does, however, occur in English of the 17th century. 15. discern. Theobald's suggestion deserve has been generally adopted. But the old text is capable of explanation and should I think be retained. See note, p. 228. 33. In F. and F. 2 this line is printed: For goudnesse dare not check thee: wear y thy wrongs. Ff. 3–4 expandy to thou in which they have been followed by all modern editors. This gives to my ear a very unmusical line, and since the sense would be unharmed by the omission of thou, I have thought of deleting it. After some hesitation, however, I have allowed the text to stand. 34. affeer'd, Hanmer's correction for F. affear'd. 72. The Ff. put a period after cold. The punctuation in the text was suggested by Theobald. 107. accursed, so Ff. 2-4; F. accust. Dr. Liddell retains accust, calling it an anomalous spelling of "accused" in the sense of "revealed." To do so, however, involves the taking of interdiction in a special sense found only in the phraseology of Scottish law. It seems better to take accust as a simple misprint corrected as early as F. 2. 168. rend. Rowe's correction for the rent of the Ff. The latter form was an Elizabethan variant of rend. 235. time. So the Ff. Rowe's suggestion of tune has been generally received. But time in the sense of "tune," "melody," is not infrequent in Elizabethan English. ACT V. SCENE I 29. sense are, so the Ff. correction sense is. cxii, line 10. Many editors prefer D'Avenant's "Sense" as a plural form occurs in Sonnet 42, 43. The Ff. put the question mark after fear, not after account. 21. cheer ACT V. SCENE III disseat. There has been much dispute over these words. It has been proposed to read "chair" (in the sense of "enthrone") for F. cheere. But this seems uncalled for, and "cheere" for "chair" is an anomalous spelling. Another suggestion is to follow Ff. 2-4 in changing dis-eate of F. to disease, meaning "trouble." This gives a sharper antithesis with cheer, and many editors, among them Dr. Furness, favour it. But as Verity points out "trouble" is too weak a word for the fate that would befall Macbeth in case he were defeated. Dis-seate, meaning "unseat," occurs in a scene in the Two Noble Kinsmen (v. 4. 72), which evidently is the work of Shakespeare's hand. 22. way of life. Johnson's famous suggestion, May of life, is rejected by all modern editors. 39. The word her after cure omitted by F. is supplied by Ff. 2-4. 44. stuff'd . . . stuff. Many suggestions have been made with a view of changing one or the other of these words. But none have proved acceptable nor is there any need of change. The repetition is thoroughly Shakespearean. 55. senna, so F. 4. F. has Cyme; F. 2-3, Cany. ACT V. SCENE IV 11. Many editors have stumbled over this line posed to substitute some other word for given. and have proOf these sug 66 gestions Johnson's gone is perhaps the most plausible. But there is really no need of emendation, since the passage can be explained as it stands. The use of is in the sense of 'have to " is not uncommon in Shakespeare. Compare Merchant of Venice, i. I. 5. ACT V. SCENE V 8 and 15. The stage directions in these lines are wanting in the Ff. 39. shall. So F. Most modern editors read shalt; but compare A. and C. v. 2. 208, where F. reads thou ... shall. See also ii. 4. 28. of the present play. ACT V. SCENE VII 22. The word and at the close of this line appears in the Ff. as the first word of line 23. The metre, however, is greatly improved by its transposition to the close of line 22. This gives us a five-foot line with the weak ending in line 22, and in line 23 throws the stress on the emphatic words more and not. I would call attention to the fact that in a similar passage, ii. 1. 13, and appears in the Ff. at the beginning of line 14. ACT V. SCENE VIII 34. The stage direction of the Ff. reads: "Exeunt fighting. Alarums. Enter fighting, and Macbeth slaine." This double direction is sometimes taken as showing that something has been omitted here. |
